Monster
by PrincessNala
Summary: I feel it deep within, it’s just beneath the skin... I must confess that I feel like a monster... Two souls in one body, and Ryou just can't escape the evil parasite that is Bakura. Slight gore and character death.


**Heya everyone, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! My favourite time of year :D**

**Ok then folks, I got inspiration for this from the new song Monster by Skillet. (Which I don't own, by the way.) So the bold italics are the lyrics. ^^**

**Yeah, and this is rated M for a reason. Just a smidgen gory, with a whole heap of mindfuckery. Well, I had intended to put in some more mindfuckery, but I ran out of lyrics lol XD**

**Read on and review for me will ya! :D**

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I stare at the reflection in the mirror, barely even recognising it as myself. My face is paler than usual, my cheeks sunken and drawn, my eyes ringed with deep black rings of insomnia. My bottom lip is cracked and bitten, dried blood caking the dents my teeth had made in my flesh. My snowy white mane of hair is completely uncontrollable, sticking up in random places all around my head.

_**The secret side of me, I'll never let you see... I keep it caged but I can't control it...**_

I run my trembling hands down my face, my fingernails clawing pink lines across my papery-thin skin. They keep going, moving down my throat, encircling it temptingly before making their way down my bare chest, teasing over every protruding rib threatening to rip through my flesh. I'm skeletal and unstable, sanity so far out of my reach that I can't think straight. My eyes skitter wildly in their sockets, searching, watching, waiting. It's only a matter of time. He'll be back. He always came back. There's no escape for me. Not now, not ever.

_**So stay away from me, the beast is ugly... I feel the rage and I just can't hold it...**_

It started ever since I put that damn ring around my neck. I was so happy at first. My father had returned from Egypt with this beautiful golden artefact for me and I vowed I'd wear it forever. I hadn't meant that literally, but now I guess it's true. I physically can't take it off. He saw to that. Made the spikes dig deep into my chest, making me bleed and bonding me to the ring and him for the rest of eternity. Maybe even longer. Time meant nothing to him. And I meant nothing to him, no more than a host for his evil spirit to return to our world and wreak his vengeance and wrath upon those who imprisoned him all those years ago.

_**It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls... It comes awake and I can't control it...**_

I hadn't realised his existence at first, but then... I started to feel different. Very different. Anger so powerful had grown and swelled inside me, white-hot rage as ferocious as Hellfire, so consuming, overwhelming and... not mine. I had no reason to be angry. But something... _someone_... deep inside me was furious. It felt like an entire separate entity within my own body. But I took no notice. I pretended it didn't exist, that nothing was wrong, that every teenager has a weird phase at some point in their lives. But then he started talking to me.

_**Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head... Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?**_

Whispers at first... innocent little whispers that were so fleeting that I could easily pretend they weren't really there. But then they developed and grew, like the fury that didn't belong to me yet I still felt every waking moment. He spoke to me, murmuring sweet nothings and temptations in my ears, always there no matter how hard I tried to ignore him. I thought I was going crazy. Hearing voices in my head... it just wasn't normal. Normal, who wants to be normal? Let me free, Little One... No, I won't let him take control again. He's growing too powerful... I can't hold him back for long. I've been able to keep him at bay, but now he's well and truly out of my league.

_**I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

I had to acknowledge him then. The voices were so seductive... so real... I couldn't be imagining him nor could I be going mad. I knew... instinctively... that he existed, and he was a part of me. It didn't occur to me that he came from the golden ring around my neck until he told me. I'd tried to take it off that day, and he didn't let me. He laughed maniacally as I howled in pain and clawed at the spikes burrowing their way into my skin, keeping the ring attached to me forever... keeping him attached to me forever.

_**I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

The blackouts came next. Long periods of time went blank in my mind, and I'd suddenly blink and find myself somewhere I hadn't been before with no memory of how I got there and what I'd been doing. At first, it started off relatively innocent, in a way. I'd just be in a different place. But then it got worse. Once I woke to find myself covered in mud, twigs and leaves tangled in my hair, cuts from thorns oozing droplets of blood down my arms and face. The next time I woke to find myself standing in someone's bedroom, drenched from head to foot. My lips were twisted in a wide sadistic grin and in my right hand I clutched something cold and metallic. I blinked a few times, the uncharacteristic grin falling as I glanced downwards. My entire body was red with blood, as was the long jagged knife in my hand. And on the bed lay the mutilated body of Malik Ishtar, a boy I knew from school. Repulsion, fear and unbearable soul-searing guilt and agony ripped through me as I started to back away from the bed. But he wouldn't let me move. He took control again, and as my vision started to turn black once more, I felt my lips twist up into the horrific grin again as I leaned forwards towards the corpse and seized the golden rod Malik still held in his lifeless grip.

_**I, I feel like a monster... I, I feel like a monster...**_

I knew I was completely out of my depth then. The blackouts happened even more frequently, and he murdered with my body many more times. I woke to see more mutilated corpses just like Malik's, some left in an even worse state than he had been. I tried to stop him, I really did. He was unusually silent for a while during the few weeks these murders took place. At first I thought he'd finally left my body, but then the blackouts proved me wrong time and time again. He was still there, controlling my body like a marionette, soiling my hands with the blood of innocent people in his name. There was a motive of these killings though, I realised. He was collecting golden items, like my ring and Malik's rod. He had six so far, including mine. But I knew he wasn't finished just yet. Seven... something about seven...

_**My secret side I keep hid under lock and key... I keep it caged but I can't control it...**_

But then his voice returned and the whispers started again, filling my head with his voice. He hadn't killed the seventh yet. He said he was biding his time, waiting for the right moment. This would be his pièce de résistance. His crowning glory. But that didn't mean he'd stopped killing. In fact, he was murdering more regularly now, choosing his victims randomly and slaughtering them in the most obscene ways just for his sadistic pleasure. He was getting better at possessing my body too. He could control any of my limbs while I was still conscious and aware. He likes to play games with me, torturing me with my own body. I've watched my hand reach out of its own accord and press itself down flat on the top of the grill and listened to him cackle as my screams nearly rip my vocal chords from my through as I thrash and struggle against myself, my flesh bubbling and burning away, my blood boiling from my veins, and I can't do a thing about it.

'_**Cause if I let him out, he'll tear me up, break me down... Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?**_

The ring suddenly flares with warmth, then a responding numbness surges through my chest, spreading to the entire left side of my body.

"No!" I cry, toppling forwards and gripping onto the mirror for dear life. I try to fight him off, hold him back, but I can't. He's impossibly strong now. I don't have a chance. My left side feels like ice and I can't move my arm or leg. Half my face turns cold too, so the right side is wide-eyed with panic and fear, and the left side turns smooth for a second before the eye narrows and his half of my mouth quirks upwards into a satanic smirk that makes me shudder. He's a demon... a fiend... a parasite... And Gods, I fear him so much.

"Hello, Little One." He half-grins at our reflection.

_**I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

It's strange seeing the two of us sharing one body at the same time. My side is trembling, fist clenched so tight that my knuckles have turn pure pearly white, whereas his side is much more relaxed, running his hand casually back through ivory bangs before bringing it to his hip. Both our eyes have a wild insane look to them. Mine is fear, and his is sadistic. I wonder what he's going to do to me today. Something painful, I know. He's very inventive, so I doubt it'll be anything like I've experienced before. And trust me, I've already experienced way too much at his... _my_... hands.

_**I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

"W-what do you w-w-want?" I stammer timidly, a shameful blush rising on my cheek at the pathetic tremor of my voice. He grins wider, and the force of it almost stretches my half to respond, but thankfully it doesn't.

"I was just bored, Ryou... I came out to play with you." He chuckles. The way he purrs my name makes me flinch before I can stop myself, and he cackles again, his hand coming up to caress my cheek. I try to shrink away from his touch, but he holds us firmly to the spot. I might be able to move half of my body, but even then I'm physically no match for his strength.

"Y-You know my name... T-tell me yours..." I whisper, closing my eye to get away from him staring at us in the mirror. His sharp fingernails dig into my skin and I yelp like a kicked dog, my eyelid snapping open to find him glaring maliciously at us, his teeth bared into a wolfish grin.

"Ah, ah, ah, Little One. I want to see your pretty eyes, so keep them open or I'll tear them out." He chastises me mockingly, wagging a finger at our reflection.

_**I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

"My name was once Akefia Touzokuoh, but I think I need a new one in this age, don't you? Hmm... how about Bakura? That's your surname isn't it, Little One? I find it rather fitting, sharing a name with my precious host." He smiles, running one finger over my lips seductively, and I barely resist the urge to bite him. Blood is slowly seeping down my face from five fresh crescent-shaped cuts his fingernails left behind.

_**I, I feel like a monster... I, I feel like a monster...**_

"Bakura..." I murmur his new name aloud for the first time, hating his choice. "Bakura, what do you want from me?"

"_Mmm_..." He sighs, his eye sliding shut. I blink, confused and uncertain.

"Say my name again, Little One."

"Bakura."

"Again. Put a bit more... _fear_... into it this time."

"_B-Bakura_."

He inhales happily, sighing in pleasure. His hand comes up again, this time trailing lightly down my throat, kneading at my collarbone in a way that's both teasing and dominating.

"Perfect, Ryou. My new name sounds so fucking beautiful coming from your lips like that." He grins, opening his eye again. The irises are a deep rich chocolate brown, much like mine. Only his have a ring of red circling the pupils, pupils which are little more than pinpricks of psychosis in a sea of mahogany.

_**It's hiding in the dark, it's teeth are razor sharp... There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart...**_

"The time has come, Little One. I'm going to have fun with you for the last time before I take over your body completely and make it my own. I have no need for a host any more. It's a shame, really. You're such a pretty creature, Ryou. If I could, I'd find you a spare body for you to inhabit, but I can't. It'll be such a waste and, like I said... _such_ a shame."

Fear claws its way up my spine, even more consuming and intense than his rage ever was. His fingers have moved from my collarbone and are now tenderly stroking the soft skin of my stomach, making soothing circles across my flesh. I hate him touching me. I know it's my own hand, but the skin feels unfamiliar to me, colder than ice and almost too smooth.

_**No-one can hear me scream, maybe it's just a dream... Maybe it's inside of me, stop this monster...**_

"W-what are you g-going to do to m-me?" I stutter, dreading the answer but for some reason at the same time craving it. I need to know what's going to happen. I need to know if I'll be able to fight it, resist it... or if I'm about to perish in pain beyond belief, my soul shrivelling and burning while his spreads to fill the gaps of my empty body.

"Oh, I'm not going to go into all the gory details, Little One. All you need to know is that the pain is so unbearable; you'll be begging me to kill you long before I do. Trust me, I've been through this before, when my spirit was transferred to my Millennium Ring."

_**I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

"P-please... please, d-don't..." I plead desperately, tears brimming in my single wide brown eye. Our reflection looked so unnatural now, half of me crying and half of me grinning with such undiluted sadistic elation. The Millennium Ring around our neck glows a bright dazzling gold, the warmth of it burning into my chest. Suddenly, five sharp pains stab into my chest as the spikes of the ring begin to slowly sink deeper into my skin. Rivulets of blood immediately surface and leave slick crimson trails down my pale torso.

I grasp my chest and double over in agony, the pain turning ever more intense with every second that passes, and every centimetre the spikes burrow further into my flesh.

"Bakura! Please, stop! I'll do anything, I'm begging you!" I shriek, blood flowing thick and fast now, dripping to the bathroom floor and forming puddles at my feet.

_**I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

"Too late now, Ryou!" Bakura cackles insanely, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on our reflection, hungrily watching the flood of scarlet liquid, licking our lips in grisly delight.

I scream incoherently, clawing at my chest one-handed. My fingers scrabbled at the golden ring, slippery with blood as I try to get a good enough grip of it so I can prise it from my body. Surely the pain I'm feeling right now can't get any worse. It's already gone past what is humanly possible for my body to tolerate.

A fresh wave of agony tackles me fast and hard, making my knees buckle as my back arches and an animalistic howl of pure anguish nearly bursts my own eardrums. My hand whips out of its own accord and smashes straight through the mirror, shattering our reflection completely.

_**I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

Bakura laughs hysterically as I tear my arm back to me, cradling it close as a worse burst of pain actually brings me to my knees this time, the bones cracking as they collide with the bathroom tiles. Blood now streams from my arm as well as my torso, but for some reason it feels strangely numb. It's a welcome relief from all the rest of the torment, and I press my arm tighter to my chest. Shards of mirror are embedded deep in the limb, yet I can't feel them at all. My arm has lost all feeling, and its pure heaven in my own personal hell.

_**I've gotta lose control, he's something radical... I must confess that I feel like a monster...**_

"I'm grateful to you, Ryou." Bakura taunts me, totally unaffected by the pain. Or if he is affected by it, he's enjoying it. The pupils of his eyes have dilated so much that only the slightest ring of mahogany was visible now. "You see, I couldn't have survived without you. By being my host, you kept me alive. Thank you, Little One. I'll owe you one in the afterlife!"

He laughs again, the psychotic sound mixing with my agonised screams in the most horrific way.

_**I, I feel like a monster...**_

I'm lying in a fetal position on the bloody tiles now, crippled with pain, sobbing and screaming as it only grows worse and worse. I can feel his presence twisting and growing inside me, pushing out my soul and replacing it with his own. I can't fight back, not even if I wanted to. It... It hurts... _It hurts so much..._

"Goodnight, Ryou." Bakura smirks.

Suddenly, the light glints on a particularly long shard of mirror a few inches away from my... soon to be Bakura's... head. And his words that I hadn't registered before came rushing back to me, eating through the pain and sinking into my mind.

"_I couldn't have lived without you. By being my host, you kept me alive."_

I'm still his host. The spikes of the Millennium Ring were now literally a couple of inches away from piercing my heart. I'm not dead yet.

_**I, I feel like a monster...**_

"Do you know what date it is today, Bakura?" I grit out from between teeth clenched almost to breaking point against the agony. His laughing abruptly subsided.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He growls, his frown creasing my features.

_**I, I feel like a monster...**_

"It's the thirty-first of October." I smile weakly, feeling my consciousness starting to ebb away as Bakura's overwhelmed me. I reach out and my hand closes over the shard. He hasn't seen me.

"So what?" He snorts, grinning again. "Like that's going to change anything!"

He throws our head back and laughs loudly, but swiftly freezes when he feels something sharp pressing directly against our throat.

"What're you –" He starts to yell, but I'm too far gone to stop now.

"Happy Halloween, Bakura." I grin triumphantly. He howls with fury and his hand flies up to stop me, but it's too late.

One quick swipe and our blood spurts, splattering the ground for the final time as we fall, our head left dangling on our neck by a few strands of gristle.

_**I, I feel like a monster.**_

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**Didya like it? Let me know what you think ^^**

**See ya!**


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